More people are coming forward to say that the Turning Point Church in Marysville is engaged in more than standard outreach practices to the secular masses. Yesterday, I posted about a mom who says adult “youth leaders” attempted to recruit her 11-year-old daughter, who they met during school hours at a public school, into attending church meetings—without obtaining the mother's consent.

Students' issues with the Turning Point Church aren’t new. More than four years ago, church delegates were on public school campuses during school hours, says one former student.

“People of various ages, [in their] 20s and older, were going around handing out these Bibles and saying that we should all go to Turning Point Church because it’s a cool place to be,” says Nick Poling, 18, who attended Totem Middle School in Marysville a few years ago. “They would give out pamphlets to people that said, you should come to our youth group.” The school has open-air hallways, and the youth leaders would hang out between the buildings. “They were out there waiting for us when we came out for the buses.”

“There were teachers around and it’s not like they tried to stop them,” he says. “Back then, I just was kind of confused as to why the administration would let them do that.”

The state constitution seems clear on the subject: "All schools maintained or supported wholly or in part by the public funds shall be forever free from sectarian control or influence."

But it’s unclear whether the group’s actions are illegal. Doug Honig, a spokesman for the ACLU of Washington, says each intersection of religion and government must be taken on a case-by-case basis. But, he notes, "Separation of religion and government means that public schools cannot sponsor or promote religious activities. People who are invited onto school grounds by school officials are not permitted to proselytize students."

On Wednesday, Totem Middle School—no doubt aware of those concerns—blocked further visits to the school by church members while it conducts an investigation. Turning Point Church continues to communicate on campus with students at Marysville Pilchuck High School, Cedar Crest Middle School, Mountain View High School, and Marysville Middle School, spokespeople for the respective schools confirm.

Some Marysville residents made up their minds long ago. Sam Poling, 20, Nick Poling’s older brother, began making videos last summer that parody Turning Point Church Pastor Mike Villamor, whose YouTube videos the elder Poling calls "creepy.”

Here’s one video of Villamor visiting his six-year-old son at school and goading the boy into praying over a school lunch and confirming his love for Jesus:

In response, Sam Poling made the first of several videos that parody Villamor:

Although Sam Poling calls the video "very tongue-in-cheek, silly," he says an irate member of the congregation came looking for him at the Blockbuster Video where he works. Although Poling wasn't working that night, his fellow employees said the church member wanted "to ‘kick my teeth in’ for ‘making fun of a pastor’” he says.

Rick Ross, a court witness on “destructive religious groups,” runs a national forum on organizations engaged in cultish behavior. The forum has a rich thread dedicated to the Turning Point Church, where former members and others express concern the church is targeting children, trying to persuade them to follow the Turning Point Church without telling their parents. “In my experience, that leads to a breakdown in the family, a conflict between child enthralled with church organization and parent who says that is not my belief,” says Ross. “If Mom and Dad sign off on [a consent form] and then the child comes back and the church puts it on file and work with child with the family’s knowledge, that is fine.”

But, he says, “The idea that any church would try to circumvent parents without notifying [them] in advance is shocking to me because the right of parents to decide the religious affiliation of their children is sacrosanct."

Villamor and other members of the church did not return calls to comment.